Ecclesiastes 10:5
New International Version
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:

New Living Translation
There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake

English Standard Version
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler:

Berean Standard Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun—an error that proceeds from the ruler:

King James Bible
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

New King James Version
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, As an error proceeding from the ruler:

New American Standard Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake that proceeds from the ruler:

NASB 1995
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler—

NASB 1977
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler—

Legacy Standard Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake which goes forth from the one in power—

Amplified Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from the ruler—

Christian Standard Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

American Standard Version
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as it were an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error that goes forth before a ruler

Brenton Septuagint Translation
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, wherein an error has proceeded from the ruler.

Contemporary English Version
Rulers do some things that are terribly unfair:

Douay-Rheims Bible
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince:

English Revised Version
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as it were an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
There is a tragedy that I've seen under the sun, an error often made by rulers.

Good News Translation
Here is an injustice I have seen in the world--an injustice caused by rulers.

International Standard Version
Here's another tragedy that I've observed on earth, a kind of error that comes from an overseer:

JPS Tanakh 1917
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, Like an error which proceedeth from a ruler:

Literal Standard Version
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, | As ignorance that goes out from the ruler,

Majority Standard Bible
There is an evil I have seen under the sun—an error that proceeds from the ruler:

New American Bible
I have seen under the sun another evil, like a mistake that proceeds from a tyrant:

NET Bible
I have seen another misfortune on the earth: It is an error a ruler makes.

New Revised Standard Version
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as great an error as if it proceeded from the ruler:

New Heart English Bible
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of error which proceeds from the ruler.

Webster's Bible Translation
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

World English Bible
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of error which proceeds from the ruler.

Young's Literal Translation
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, As an error that goeth out from the ruler,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wisdom and Folly
4If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest. 5There is an evil I have seen under the sun— an error that proceeds from the ruler: 6Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions.…

Cross References
Proverbs 28:12
When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler's temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.

Ecclesiastes 10:6
Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions.


Treasury of Scripture

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceeds from the ruler:

an evil

Ecclesiastes 4:7
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 5:13
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

Ecclesiastes 6:1
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

as an

Ecclesiastes 3:16
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

Ecclesiastes 4:1
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

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Ecclesiastes 10
1. observations of wisdom and folly
7. death in life
9. and the day of judgment in the days of youth, are to be thought on














(5) Error.--The word is the same as at Ecclesiastes 10:6.

Verse 5. - Koheleth gives his personal experience of apparent confusion in the ordering of state affairs. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun. Power gets into the hands of an unwise man, and then errors are committed and injustice reigns. As an error which proceedeth from the ruler. The כְּ here is cash veritatis, which denotes not comparison, but resemblance, the idealization of the individual, the harmony of the particular with the general idea. The evil which he noticed appeared to be (he does not affirm that it is) a mistake caused by the ruler; it so presented itself to his mind. The caution observed in the statement may be owing partly to the tacit feeling that such blots occasioned difficulties in the view taken of the moral government of the world. He does not intend to refer to God under the appellation "Ruler." The Septuagint renders, Ὡς ἀκούσιον ἐξῆλθεν, "As if it came involuntarily;" Vulgate, to much the same effect, Quasi per errorem egrediens. The idea here is either gnat the evil is one not produced by any intentional action of the ruler, but resulting from human imperfection, or that what appears to be a mistake is not so really. But these interpretations are unsuitable. Those who adhere to the Solomonic authorship of our book see here a prophetic intimation of the evil of Jeroboam's rule, which evil proceeded from the sins of Solomon himself and his son Rehoboam. (So Wordsworth, Motais, etc.)

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
There is
יֵ֣שׁ (yêš)
Adverb
Strong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, is

an evil
רָעָ֔ה (rā·‘āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

I have seen
רָאִ֖יתִי (rā·’î·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7200: To see

under
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

the sun—
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ (haš·šā·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

an error
כִּשְׁגָגָ֕ה (kiš·ḡā·ḡāh)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 7684: A mistake, inadvertent transgression

that proceeds
שֶׁיֹּצָ֖א (še·yō·ṣā)
Pronoun - relative | Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

from
מִלִּפְנֵ֥י (mil·lip̄·nê)
Preposition-m, Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the ruler:
הַשַּׁלִּֽיט׃ (haš·šal·lîṭ)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7989: Having mastery, domineering


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 10:5 There is an evil which I have (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 10:4
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